The Piedmont Centre for African Studies was established in Turin in 1983 by the Enti Locali piemontesi, Regione Piemonte, Provincia di Torino, Comune di Torino and Università degli Studi di Torino and is currently funded by these institutions. The Centre was founded to create a catalyst for African studies and a space to host and support cooperative projects for national and international scholars and researchers.

The Centre, in collaboration with other Italian and Piedmontese public and private bodies, aims to promote and support relations between Africa and Piedmont, spread knowledge on African history, cultures, languages, arts and ecosystems, develop research projects on the economy, politics and society of the African continent.

To achieve the aforementioned goals, the Centre will:

• Host and promote any activity related to Africa, its cultures, ecosystems, arts, languages and any event aimed to establish and support peace and cooperation between Piedmont and Africa;
• Conduct basic and applied research projects, studies and analyses on African culture, society, economy and politics independently or in cooperation with other Italian or foreign bodies;
• Organise conventions, conferences, exhibitions, publishing activities and events related to the themes expressed in Article 1;
• Cooperate with the Universities of Piedmont and with the Polytechnic University of Turin to strengthen research and teaching in the field of African studies; establish scholarships and grants for research projects, studies, conventions and conferences to support Italian and foreign scholars of African studies;
• Create a library that includes the most important works on history, culture, art, literatures, economy, politics, society and ecosystems of Africa;
• Conduct and support publishing activities, both in hardcopy and digital format, of books and magazines, collections of convention and seminar papers, studies and researches, educational and cultural material, when these publications are instrumental in achieving the CSA goals;
• Organise courses and conferences on the cultures, traditional and modern social structures, languages, arts, economy, politics, society and ecosystems of Africa;
• Establish agreements with regional, national and international bodies, with specific preference for African institutions, to support and achieve the institutional objectives of the CSA;
• Promote and assist the activities, organisation and establishment of foundations, associations or other bodies that have goals similar to those of our Centre.